So i want to breed all my fish, and my friend is letting my borrow her entire 10 gallon tank set up since she just recently lost all of her fish. I was wondering if i should seperate the males from the females of all breeds for a week to encourage them to breed? I will be feeding them flake food and miday meal is usually brine shrimp with my salt water fish as well. So if i do seperate them, so i keep the males in the 29 gallon tank that i want to breed them in, and reintroduce the females to them after a week, or since i have more females than males should i keep the females in the 29 gallon and after a week introduce them to the males in the 10 gallon (I will introduce one female breed to the males at a time)

And will Black Mollies and Silver Mollies spawn?

LasColinasCichlids

04-20-2011 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alysalouise
(Post 654363)

So i want to breed all my fish, and my friend is letting my borrow her entire 10 gallon tank set up since she just recently lost all of her fish. I was wondering if i should seperate the males from the females of all breeds for a week to encourage them to breed? I will be feeding them flake food and miday meal is usually brine shrimp with my salt water fish as well. So if i do seperate them, so i keep the males in the 29 gallon tank that i want to breed them in, and reintroduce the females to them after a week, or since i have more females than males should i keep the females in the 29 gallon and after a week introduce them to the males in the 10 gallon (I will introduce one female breed to the males at a time)

And will Black Mollies and Silver Mollies spawn?

All mollies will spawn with any molly (or guppy) of the opposite sex (sailfin, balloon, lyretail, cremecicle, black, silver, dalmation...). Be careful not to breed a male molly and a female guppy, as a female guppy trying to birth such large fry can and will kill her. Also, muppies, are infertile and cannot reproduce. Also have heard that muppies have short lifespans, but havent gotten confirmation on that one.

Breeding guppies is really easy, and the use of multiple tanks is up to you, but encouragement for these little rabbit-like breeders isnt needed. (I think I read a previous post by you talking about breeding your guppies.)

Are there any other fish species in the 29 gallon? As if you have more males, I'd keep them in the 29. I'd keep the females in the 10. And I would pick which male you want traits to continue of, and add him to the female tank for a few hours, then remove him. Watch for gravid spot (if we are talking guppies still), and then put the pregnant guppy in her own tank or in a breeder net, let her have the babies, then remove her and rear the fry with First Bites, fry food (dust like), or very crushed flakes.

This is just my opinion on what I would do if what you are trying to accomplish was my goal as well. As I believe this route is the easiest and is likely to ensure the survival of a higher number of fry as well as the ease of sureness that the intended male is used in breeding.

alysalouise

04-20-2011 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LasColinasCichlids
(Post 654414)

All mollies will spawn with any molly (or guppy) of the opposite sex (sailfin, balloon, lyretail, cremecicle, black, silver, dalmation...). Be careful not to breed a male molly and a female guppy, as a female guppy trying to birth such large fry can and will kill her. Also, muppies, are infertile and cannot reproduce. Also have heard that muppies have short lifespans, but havent gotten confirmation on that one.

Breeding guppies is really easy, and the use of multiple tanks is up to you, but encouragement for these little rabbit-like breeders isnt needed. (I think I read a previous post by you talking about breeding your guppies.)

Are there any other fish species in the 29 gallon? As if you have more males, I'd keep them in the 29. I'd keep the females in the 10. And I would pick which male you want traits to continue of, and add him to the female tank for a few hours, then remove him. Watch for gravid spot (if we are talking guppies still), and then put the pregnant guppy in her own tank or in a breeder net, let her have the babies, then remove her and rear the fry with First Bites, fry food (dust like), or very crushed flakes.

This is just my opinion on what I would do if what you are trying to accomplish was my goal as well. As I believe this route is the easiest and is likely to ensure the survival of a higher number of fry as well as the ease of sureness that the intended male is used in breeding.

And i do have first bites that i got like a month ago when i had 60-70 zebra danio fry, and am using it on my 3 baby platys. i also crushed up my flake food just as fine as the first bites and mixed it together today (i have like 3 different kinds of fish flakes mixed together)

And i do have first bites that i got like a month ago when i had 60-70 zebra danio fry, and am using it on my 3 baby platys. i also crushed up my flake food just as fine as the first bites and mixed it together today (i have like 3 different kinds of fish flakes mixed together)

Hmm...that's a lot in one tank to try and breed on purpose.

What temp is the tank set to? As the minnows and the rest have different temp needs. The minnows like 65-72F while the rest appreciate a higher temp between 74-78F. There are no overlaps therefore housing them together long term wont work as the minnows will live a shorter life in warmer waters. And surely the minnows wont want to breed in warm temps from my understanding.

Well, you have the fry food already, that's good. If you already have platy fry why do you think the male has no interest in the females?

alysalouise

04-20-2011 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LasColinasCichlids
(Post 654429)

Hmm...that's a lot in one tank to try and breed on purpose.

What temp is the tank set to? As the minnows and the rest have different temp needs. The minnows like 65-72F while the rest appreciate a higher temp between 74-78F. There are no overlaps therefore housing them together long term wont work as the minnows will live a shorter life in warmer waters. And surely the minnows wont want to breed in warm temps from my understanding.

Well, you have the fry food already, that's good. If you already have platy fry why do you think the male has no interest in the females?

Ya i know minnows like cooler water, my tank is at 76 78 right now, i dont have a heater in there, well for a short period of time, in the next couple months i will have one in there again, im in the middle of moving my salt water fish out of my 14 into my 55, so when im done with that the 29 will have its heater back. And i know its quite a bit of fish at the moment, but i am helping friends reset up their tanks, one has been wanting to do one for a while as she did a tank some years back, and another just lost her fish so she is going to let me use her ten gallon, and after i get the fry ill giver her tank back to her and help her do her tank again.

I got the orginal 2 platy as a breeding pair about a month ago from a pet store with like 100 platys in the same tank, and as the weeks went on i started to noticed the gravid spot, but have never seen the 2 platys together, he is always on one side of the tank and her the other, he is at the bottom of the tank during feeding she is at the top.
So i bought another female last night, and she has the tinest gravid spot ever, so im guessing she is going to be popping out babies in the next month or so she is a micky mouse platy, blue body red fins and a bit larger than the other 2 i have
and the one that just had the three babies this last week, looks like she is still going to have more but i keep checking one the tank every half hour all day every day and still havent seen any, its a rather large gravid spot for her size i would think

oh and at like what age do the babies start to show their color (platies)

LasColinasCichlids

04-20-2011 11:42 PM

Not too sure on exactly when they start showing colors on platy fry. I can say that I have guppy fry that I have had for like 3 weeks, and they were already like 2 weeks old when I got them...and they still havent started showing colors. I have heard...dont quote me on this...that it might take up until 3-4 months for full colors and able to sex...or maybe that was the time frame before they were sexually mature? Hmm...dont know...try googling it.

Well, I will say that without the proper temps no species is more likely to breed. I suspect that once you have the heater on the tank, and the minnows in a cooler tank, that you will get more action that you are seeing now.

alysalouise

04-20-2011 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LasColinasCichlids
(Post 654438)

Not too sure on exactly when they start showing colors on platy fry. I can say that I have guppy fry that I have had for like 3 weeks, and they were already like 2 weeks old when I got them...and they still havent started showing colors. I have heard...dont quote me on this...that it might take up until 3-4 months for full colors and able to sex...or maybe that was the time frame before they were sexually mature? Hmm...dont know...try googling it.

Well, I will say that without the proper temps no species is more likely to breed. I suspect that once you have the heater on the tank, and the minnows in a cooler tank, that you will get more action that you are seeing now.

well inside my tank it stays at 76 it was even at 80 yesterday, but i did some water changes and it cooled down, im pretty sure it stays so high because i have a 55gallon tank right next to it at 80-82 and on my dresser on a different wall my 14 gallon is set a 80-82. and my bedroom window and door are always shut, and the heater in the house is usually always on, so my room is kept quite warm, and the 10 gallon im going to be borrowing will also have a heater..... i could always tape my heating pad that i had for when i had lizards a while back into my 29 gallon to keep it a tad bit warmer, but i dont think it is nessacery

Amethyst123

04-21-2011 12:09 AM

My platy fry all have some color at birth, but it gets more intense over time. They should be full color, or close to it, by two months. The first platy fry I noticed in my community tank was a yellow-gold color when I first saw him, with no mickey mouse spot, although his mom is an orange/red mickey mouse. He is now about 6 1/2 months old, and he is more intensely colored than the females, and does have the MM markings. I thought at first that he was the only fry born, because I never saw any others. I have since discovered that he was way too big for a newborn platy - he was probably at least 10 days old, maybe as old as 2 1/2 weeks when I noticed him, and I assume he had siblings who didn't make it in the tank. A few days after I first saw him, I picked up 3 neon black painted platy fry (yellow/gold to pale orange where they didn't have the neon black scales) a bit smaller than he was, and another that was at the time yellow. He is now bright orange/red, and the 3 neon black painteds are orange to red where they aren't neon black.

I have about 75-80 platy fry at the moment, from two drops. The older ones are 37 days old, and are mostly yellow, which they were at birth. Some are beginning to show darker shades of gold and orange. Their mother is a sunset platy, and their father is either the bright orange platy or the orange/red mickey mouse, probably the mickey mouse. Therefore, they could end up anywhere from the yellow blending to orange (front to back) of their mother, or a darker, brighter orange, with or without the MM markings. The younger fry are about 3 1/2 weeks old, and most of them have the neon black scales, with various shades from yellow to dark orange on the rest of their bodies. The black scales were evident at birth, and the areas that weren't black were whitish to yellow. Some are already quite orange. Their mother was an orange/red mickey mouse, so obviously their father was the male neon black painted platy.

Amethyst123

04-21-2011 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LasColinasCichlids
(Post 654438)

Not too sure on exactly when they start showing colors on platy fry. I can say that I have guppy fry that I have had for like 3 weeks, and they were already like 2 weeks old when I got them...and they still havent started showing colors. I have heard...dont quote me on this...that it might take up until 3-4 months for full colors and able to sex...or maybe that was the time frame before they were sexually mature? Hmm...dont know...try googling it.

Well, I will say that without the proper temps no species is more likely to breed. I suspect that once you have the heater on the tank, and the minnows in a cooler tank, that you will get more action that you are seeing now.

I agree about the temps and breeding. Also, platys are sexually mature at 3 to 4 months, but the anal fin differentiates several weeks before that. Some, known as "early maturing males" are obviously male by the time they're about 1/2" long - maybe 4 or 5 weeks. One of mine was. However, he grew more slowly than the others, and remains smaller than the others. The early maturing males are also less likely to breed, either because they get bullied/crowded out by the bigger boys, or because they're infertile. Don't know which. I could tell the other males were male at about an inch or so, maybe 8 - 10 weeks. At that point I realized I had 3 males and only 4 females - not good! I have since purchased 2 more females, and have separated the small male out to prevent him from being harrassed to death. He's currently in a 10g with 2 female guppies and about 14 of the older guppy fry (see below).

If your guppy fry aren't showing color yet, at about 5 weeks, my guess is that they'll remain less colorful than some guppies at adulthood. They should have at least some color by now. Of course, I could be wrong - you'll have to keep us updated as they color up.

I've got two batches of guppy fry, also, about the same ages as the platys. The first batch, which is 37 days old, all have dark blue and/or black on their tails, but not much color elsewhere yet, just the typical silver/gray bodies. The females of this batch all have obvious gravid spots already, although the anal fins aren't yet differentiated. The batch that is 24 days old is already showing some color, but not as much yet. Both the moms were dark blue in the back half of their bodies and their tails, and 3 of my 4 adult guppy males (at the time - 2 have since died!:cry:) were various shades of blue from turquoise to almost black. I think that's why I'm only seeing the blue and/or black so far.

alysalouise

04-21-2011 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst123
(Post 654463)

I agree about the temps and breeding. Also, platys are sexually mature at 3 to 4 months, but the anal fin differentiates several weeks before that. Some, known as "early maturing males" are obviously male by the time they're about 1/2" long - maybe 4 or 5 weeks. One of mine was. However, he grew more slowly than the others, and remains smaller than the others. The early maturing males are also less likely to breed, either because they get bullied/crowded out by the bigger boys, or because they're infertile. Don't know which. I could tell the other males were male at about an inch or so, maybe 8 - 10 weeks. At that point I realized I had 3 males and only 4 females - not good! I have since purchased 2 more females, and have separated the small male out to prevent him from being harrassed to death. He's currently in a 10g with 2 female guppies and about 14 of the older guppy fry (see below).

If your guppy fry aren't showing color yet, at about 5 weeks, my guess is that they'll remain less colorful than some guppies at adulthood. They should have at least some color by now. Of course, I could be wrong - you'll have to keep us updated as they color up.

I've got two batches of guppy fry, also, about the same ages as the platys. The first batch, which is 37 days old, all have dark blue and/or black on their tails, but not much color elsewhere yet, just the typical silver/gray bodies. The females of this batch all have obvious gravid spots already, although the anal fins aren't yet differentiated. The batch that is 24 days old is already showing some color, but not as much yet. Both the moms were dark blue in the back half of their bodies and their tails, and 3 of my 4 adult guppy males (at the time - 2 have since died!:cry:) were various shades of blue from turquoise to almost black. I think that's why I'm only seeing the blue and/or black so far.

I dont have ant guppy fry yet, but ill post some pictures so you guys can maybe tell me how much longer till do get fry from any of my fish, just give me a moment or 2